One of the North Korean women we have discipled for the past several years recently sent us a letter. We wanted to share this letter with you, so that you could see the tremendous work of God done in her life amidst difficult circumstances. 

God the Father, who is the ruler of history and alive today. Please help our North Korean sisters, who came to China living away from our hometown and families. I came to China and started a family, but I have done many sinful things. But God accepted me to be a child of God. 

If it were not for that grace and love, it would have been a long time since I wandered on the path of sin and then gone to hell. Thank you for allowing me to repent and turn my eyes to look to heaven, the crown of glory. This year, I was confined to my house for three months due to COVID-19, an experience like the prison life that I had in Chosun (North Korea). Even if (my time of the month) comes, I could not go out to buy sanitary papers, so I cut up my clothes with scissors. It reminds me of all the terrible traumatic memories that I had suffered in the NK prison. Disease is the most difficult and troublesome thing in the lives of NK defectors in China. 

Every NK sister is getting old and the only thing we have left is to rest (i.e. die) after unceasing labor in China. Whether uterine cancer, colon cancer, spinal tuberculosis, and hepatitis, they don’t know what kind of disease they have and are just taking any kind of medicine. Some people die without being able to go to the hospital door because they have no ID.

If you go to the hospital for a checkup and take medicine, you will get better quickly, but since you do not have an ID, it is hard to go to a pharmacy and buy medicine. The husbands began to abuse and blame NK women for their sickness because it is expensive to cure diseases their NK wives have Sometimes, it made me think “Why must I live like this?”. Sisters living in rural areas farm and work outside, but now they cannot go out and earn money, so that it is difficult to pay for their children’s tuition.

God, when could we finally meet those who we want to meet and go to the places we want to go? Even if you want to get in a bus or taxi, you may need a COVID-19 test certificate and ID card. These days, some sisters are called by public security for investigation, and they renounced their faith and walk out without faith. Dear teachers who have supported me, I am still alive and living here with because of your sincere prayers.

I am a patient too. My liver, thyroid, uterus, everything is not good. I will not forget the heart and sincerity of all those who have consistently supported and prayed for me, and I will keep my mission and faith in front of me until my final day of my life. There are many sisters who have also told me to renounce my faith after having been to an investigation. They refused to listen to what I say about God and his Word.

I always encourage myself and say, “Now that I have chosen this way, I cannot take another path. If I step down because I’m scared, who is going to speak about the Words of eternal life? Now, I am old and have gone through many things. This is my mission to spread the Word. God will protect me. Don’t be scared.” I keep praying for myself and keeping my faith.

From (Sister P)

Not long after writing this letter, her husband passed away after being infected with COVID19. She is now taking care of her young children and her elderly mother-in-law alone.

Despite these circumstances, she is asking us to pray for her to continue to spread the Word of God with other NKs.

Please pray. She knows that Christ is the only hope.

• Pray for Sister P – Sister P is a North Korean woman in China who ministers to other North Korean sisters. Recently, her Chinese husband died due to COVID, and now she has to take care of her small children and mother-in-law herself. However, she is still focused on preaching the gospel.
• Pray for North Korean workers in China – Pray for North Korean workers in China to continue to read and listen to the Bible. During the Coronavirus period, the North Korean government paid less attention to them, so they were able to receive discipleship more freely. But now, as Coronavirus restrictions ease up, they may be monitored more closely.